Roosevelt University paves way for business student from Des Plaines to prepare taxes as volunteer

Roosevelt University accounting major Sonali Patel took what she has learned in the classroom and applied those skills to help others as a volunteer tax preparer during this busy income tax season.

Patel, 24, of Des Plaines spent time this tax season at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, where she was a volunteer providing tax-filing assistance to senior citizens, as well as those who have limited incomes and those who speak little English.

"It's a wonderful feeling to be able to meet and interact with so many people. You get to see the relief on their faces when the process of preparing their taxes is completed. It feels great to be able to help," she said.

Patel is among 16 Roosevelt business students who trained earlier this year to be volunteer tax preparers with the not-for-profit organization Ladder Up Chicago, which runs the Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program during tax season at sites throughout Chicagoland.

An international student, Patel will receive a Master of Science in Accounting degree from Roosevelt University in May 2019. She came to the United States in January this year to join her husband who is working here.

"I had experience in accounting with taxes in India," Patel said of her interest in volunteering as a tax preparer in the run up to this year's April 17 Tax Day.

"I wanted to be able to use my knowledge, learn about the U.S. tax system and help someone, too," added Patel, whose aim is to become a certified public accountant after graduation.

The volunteer VITA Program provides free tax preparation services for individuals with annual incomes up to $30,000 and families earning up to $55,000. Ladder Up has been providing VITA program services for 24 years. This year they had 16 locations in Chicago and its suburbs. Ladder Up annually attracts approximately 1,000 volunteers, many who are college students like Patel.

"When I joined Roosevelt last fall, one of my goals was to see that our students, in keeping with the University's social justice mission, have opportunities to give back to their communities," said Heller College of Business Dean Asghar Sabbaghi, who encouraged Roosevelt accounting and finance majors to participate as volunteer tax preparers.

"This new initiative is the first of many that will allow our business students to take what they are learning in the classroom and apply it to real-life situations out in the field," Sabbaghi said.

Patel, who has already assisted multiple clients in the Ladder Up program, could not be happier to have had the volunteer experience.

"I've gotten to know a lot about the U.S. tax system by providing volunteer service, and this experience is great for my resume," she said.

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